All language subtitles for Dusan Makavejev - Man Is Not A Bird (1965)

MAN IS NOT
A BIRD
a love film

OPENING
REMARKS
ON NEGATIVE
ASPECTS IN LOVE

YOUNGEST HYPNOTIST IN THE BALKANS

A girl fell in love with a boy
and couldn't live without him.

Her parents forbade her
to see him,

as the boy wasn't suitable
for their family,

and asked if I could help.

I hypnotized the girl
with her permission

and asked
why she ran after this boy.

You see, a person under hypnosis
tells all and keeps no secrets.

She said he'd knotted together
a hair from her head and one from his

and placed them under her
as she sat down in the park.

And that was that -
she went crazy over him.

I used indirect suggestion
to free her of that delusion.

They later thanked me and said
the girl was finished with the boy.

Placing a bat's wing
on a person's chest

won't keep him
from getting out of bed,

just as scratching a girl
won't make her fall for you.

A stone left for 12 days
under a rooster's tongue,

an owl's eyes, moles,
frogs, and so on.

If someone carrying
empty plates overtakes you,

you interrupt your trip
for fear of bad luck.

Likewise if a cat
crosses your path.

If the clock hands come
together, young girls think

that some boy is thinking of them
and try to guess his name.

You see how we unconsciously
use magic in the 20th century.

Someone with a headache
must have been jinxed.

A red thread is tied to him,

and burning coals
are cast on water.

Historical monuments around
Kosmet have begun to be vandalized.

Rumor has it that a person
with a sickness or sores

who takes mortar
from the Murat Memorial,

mixes it with spring water,

and eats it or dabs it on himself
will be completely cured.

Frescoes have also begun
to suffer damage.

Rumor has it
that a barren woman

who crawls
beneath the stone

underlying
St. Mark's monastery

and eats mortar from a fresco
there will become pregnant.

So you see, some people
are eating mortar,

while others are preparing
to fly to the moon.

The moral is:
Magic is absolute nonsense.

You must fight it.

Belgrade!

Take this down.
Hello?

"And then,
in complete silence -"

You can't hear me?
"...in complete silence

resounded the chords
of that powerful music,

the crown
of Beethoven's work,

and a masterpiece
of world symphonic literature."

Hello? Yes.

Under the new spelling rules,
that's with a Y: Sym-pho-nic.

Let's go on, miss.

"The exalted words
of Schiller's Ode to Joy

fell on the somber faces
of the workers -"

No, sorry.

Correction.

"...fell on the radiant
faces of the workers."

WRITTEN
AND DIRECTED BY

Hey, Daddy-o

I'm gonna shimmy for you
and take off my vest

Hey, Daddy-o

I'm gonna shimmy for you
and take off my vest

Grind it!

Women grow on trees around here,
if you know how to pick 'em.

They prefer you big spenders
from out of town,

but our guys
get their share too.

- "Our guys"?
- Our smelters.

They had a fight last Saturday
with some railroad guys.

Three went to the hospital,
another five to the slammer.

Misa the cop broke it up:

"You, into the ambulance.
You, the paddy wagon."

We nearly died laughing.
All because of that singer, Fatima.

Man, how she sang!

I'm my ma's Friday child

I'm no doll, but I'm wild

The knife missed her heart
by a finger.

Buddy, she's ridden
right here in this cab.

You know which one she is?

I'm in love but he ain't

I'll go to the workers' council
and file a complaint

My sweetest notch.

Know what they call her?
The "sex relief committee."

I had nothing to do with it.

You want us to pay you
for three days in jail?

Go tell it
to your management committee.

I'm coming.

I'm on my way.

They busted me for no reason.
This is state business.

Lay off, Barbul.
Let sleeping dogs lie.

I'm Rudinski, from Yugomont.

Ah, it's a pleasure!
Excuse me.

Best to just hold your tongue
and go back to work.

We've been waiting anxiously,
comrade.

The machines arrived in parts.
We were just waiting for you.

Without you
we can't do a thing.

They kept me in the can
for nothing!

You drink too much, man.

Since when is that a crime?
I make money and I drink a bit.

But I don't pull a knife
on account of a skirt.

I drink
with my own money.

You can tell
an out-of-towner right away.

Good day, all!

"Peter saves Paul,
and Spasa shaves us all."

Hello, Master Spasa.

Clean face.
No soot in the pores.

How much do you want
for this beautiful stuff?

Come back when I'm dead
and it's free.

- He collects hair.
- What for?

He's off his rocker.

Hey, what do you do
with all that hair?

Know anyone
with a room to let?

How long do you need it for?

Until I finish the job.

We'll find something.

Here on assignment?

Electrician?

I install machinery.

There's a room nearby.
Pomade?

Sure.

There!

"The rain falls down,
the mice all drown."

Get lost!

"The merry priest
has a motley beard."

Cheers, everyone.

- Where's that room?
- Up the road. I'll show you.

- There's gonna be a ruckus.
- What?

When Fatima got knifed -
quite a sensation that was -

he was arrested
with the rest of them.

Really got a raw deal.

Lost three days' pay
sitting in jail.

Hey, you listening?

- Are we there?
- Yeah. Come on.

Come on.

After you.

You know how it is, comrade.
A regular salary isn't enough.

We've been taking in boarders
for a few years.

The room's nice and airy,
and the bathroom's right there.

I'm always away on business.

I can get you brandy and things
from the village dirt cheap.

Thanks. There's no need.

You'll be happy with the room.

A Macedonian stayed here before.

Killed on the job.

After him, a nice comrade
from Bosnia.

Stabbed to death.

Mind your own business.
What are you doing here?

Those things all depend
on a man's fate.

Have any of your boarders survived?

Of course. There's big construction
going on here, so things happen.

People come and go
and earn good money.

Take Slavko, the electrician.
- The rat!

Enough.

Get out.

Why a rat?

Didn't pay the rent.

Don't listen to her.

Don't listen to her, comrade.
She's a cheeky one.

Tell me what else you need.

Tell us.
What do you need?

I don't need anything.

I'll manage on my own.

Very well. Come on.

Why didn't you say
you'd be my landlady?

If you don't like the room,
I'll find you another.

I like it.

Here's my ID for registration.

It's a nice neighborhood.

Where'd you get
the funny name?

What's funny?

Is "Jan" short for "January"?

No, it's just Jan.

And what's your name?

Rajka.

Okay, Rajka.
Now let me get some rest.

Hold its neck.

My three best dresses
are missing.

When I come home to eat...

I want everything ready.

And I want you to stand there...

and shut up and serve me.

I won't shut up.

One dress isn't enough.

Where's my red calico dress?

Shut up!

Stop yelling!

I heard.

I heard all about it.

That tramp of yours came here,

the one who works
in that green building.

The government office.

Shut up!

Shut up!

If it isn't my landlady!
Up early, eh?

- Good morning.
- Morning.

How are you, landlady?

What do you do?

I install turbo engines.

- What are those?
- You wouldn't understand.

Let me buy you some breakfast.

Where have they got
good meat pies?

At the marketplace.

- That's Barbul's wife.
- Whose?

That guy from the factory.

He gives his mistress everything:
Money, clothes, everything.

That's my dress.
Why have you got it on?

Give me back my dress!

Give me back my dress!

My husband paid you
to be his whore!

Let him pay you with his salary,
not my dress!

- Break it up, folks!
- You'll pay for this!

You whore!

I'll throw acid in your eyes!

- I'll be off to work.
- See you.

Good morning, beautiful.

Come on, you too.

She attacked me
in front of everyone.

She suddenly started
grabbing and clawing at me.

The tramp visits my husband
when I'm not home.

Quiet! These two fought
in the marketplace.

We've sent for Barbulovic.

This one's his wife,
and this one -

- Are you two related?
- No!

She must be drunk.
I have nothing to do with her.

Three of my best dresses disappeared
while I was away in my village.

I head for the market
and see her dressed in my -

A fine lady! The hussy!

Go on in.

Go closer.

So you're Barbulovic?

That's right.

These two were fighting.
We can't make head nor tail of it.

Tell me, Barbulovic:

Who does the said garment
belong to?

One says it's hers.
The other says the same.

It's hers.

No, it's my dress!

Be quiet!

Explain who the dress
belongs to.

It was hers...

but it's not anymore.

I bought it for her.
I can give it to the other one.

I feed her, I clothe her,

and I can beat her too -
she's my wife.

Why doesn't she just keep quiet
and stop making me look bad?

Hey, beautiful...

you're the most gorgeous woman
in these parts.

Hop in my truck.
Let's go for a little ride.

Don't miss your chance.

Where are you going?
- Just up the road.

I'd take you all the way
to Kragujevac. Hop on.

Hello.

You've grown up.

You look beautiful.

Here's good. Ciao.

Ciao.

AN EVENING OF HYPNOSIS
WITH ROKO

We're standing
before a giant new refinery

where the best crew
of fitters from Slovenia,

working under famous
engineer Jan Rudinski,

is just completing the mounting
of powerful turbocompressors.

As you know, children, this is one
of the largest centers in the world

for the production
of copper, silver, and gold.

Once upon a time,
man was a slave to his work.

Workers were mere
appendages of machines,

as described by the author
of the classic book

The Condition
of the Working Class in England.

This is
the agglomeration area,

or in simple words,
"the oven."

Here, sulfur, phosphorus,
arsenic, and selenium

are burned
and go up in smoke,

but they also enter our lungs.

Once Rudinski's fitters
finish work on the new refinery,

these positions will be abolished

as obsolete
and harmful to one's health.

Children, we've been studying
workers and the working class -

who they are,
their historical origins,

and how they eventually
seized power from the capitalists.

Here he is!
This is a worker.

We call this "manual labor,"
physical work with the hands,

to differentiate it from mental work,
like that in offices.

This is Comrade Barbulovic,
one of the best...

As an example of the value
of what's produced here,

just the gold

produced here since Liberation

could make a set of gold teeth
for every citizen of Yugoslavia.

Did I wake you up?

Doesn't matter, landlady.

Are you married, old man?

Why "old man"?

Or divorced?

I know the story.

The worker always "on assignment."
The wife leaves him

and all the other crap behind.

Admit it, old man.

Again with the "old man" stuff.

Actually, that doesn't matter.

It's quality that counts.

There's a show on Sunday.

A guy with a beard
and huge eyes...

who can read minds.

He can guess everything.

I'll read your mind now.

Don't believe me?

Ah! The water
on the hot plate!

Now your eyelids.

They're slowly getting heavier.

You're getting tired.

Your head's growing heavy,

and you must slowly begin
closing your eyes.

Nothing will happen to you.
Don't be afraid and don't resist.

Breathe deeply for a moment,

and now normally.

I'm slowly lowering my hand.

When I say three,
you'll be in a deep hypnotic sleep.

One... you're getting sleepy...

two... sleepier and sleepier...

three - you're in
a deep hypnotic sleep,

and you'll follow all my orders.

You'll slowly open your eyes,

and when you do,
you'll see tigers before you.

One... you slowly open your eyes
and see nothing but tigers.

Your fear of the tigers grows.

Now there are big snakes
slithering around too.

You feel them coil
around your legs.

They feel cold.
Colder and colder.

They start climbing up,

higher and higher,
coiling around you.

Now you're in a park,
and seated next to you

are some young divorcees.

Now we're all cosmonauts.

You feel weightless.

Fasten your seat belts securely.

You're bodiless and weightless.

You're weightless,
with no body,

and not at all afraid.

Now we're growing wings
and turning into birds.

Careful now!
Watch where you're flying.

We're flying very fast.

We're all flying.

Get up from your seats
and fly!

That's it. Keep flying.

Now you're stiff as a board.

Stiff as a board.
Don't let him sag.

Your joints go rigid,
and you support my 155 pounds.

Hypnosis is really swell.

I think you're swell.

You really think so?

My folks have gone
to the village.

Where's the key?

How do I look?

You afraid?

You don't know anything.

You think?

I might just know
a thing or two.

You're too green
for these things.

How do you know?

Don't play tricks
with an old hand, child.

It's obvious you're old.

Old man...

They're calling us to work.

Ugh! I hate work.

Let's go for a walk tomorrow.

I might be working nights too.

Don't be like that.

Are you married?

- Did you see that hypnosis thing?
- All lies.

It's not.
It's the same with him.

Who?

The husband.
The great lord and master.

He says, "One, two, three..."

and they all go into a trance.

I saw it.

That's how we live too.

We believe everything.

He says to shut up,
and right away you shut up.

And there you are.
The man's got the power.

You shut up and do
everything he tells you -

that's hypnosis.

You look,
but you've got no eyes.

You go where his thoughts
order you.

So what will you do now?

- I know what I'll do.
- What?

No more hypnosis.

Come on, man.
Push that plank.

Our next number...

is Esmeralda, the bird-girl

of Rio de Janeiro.

Listen, kid, a worker's feet
belong on the ground.

Even 300 feet up, you have to feel
the ground under your feet.

Otherwise you can
forget about this work.

I was with
the Colorado Circus.

You don't know that smell,
old man.

For seven years
I lifted phony weights,

and worked as a barker,
the third clown,

and the daring young man
on the flying trapeze.

Well, I'm telling you:
You can't grow back a head.

What's the matter, old man?
Aren't I a good worker?

Do I slack off?

A man can always work
better and harder.

You're never around. It's like
you're married to that installation.

You're really only staying
ten more days?

Maybe even less.

How will you get along
without me?

I'll take you with me.

You really mean it?

Yes.

Why not?

Do you have
a home of your own?

Have you ever had one?

What will they
come up with next?

Give it here.

Back to work!

Higher. Keep going.
A little more.

That's good.

- Hi there. What's up?
- Come down here, will you?

How's it going?

Good.
We're ahead of schedule.

- Have one.
- Thanks. I don't smoke.

We got word from
the planning department.

If you can cut the schedule
to seven days,

we're in on a big export deal
with South America.

300 million in hard currency.

No one could take on
that kind of responsibility.

You can.

No, I can't either. The air shaft
assembly is behind schedule.

How did you do it
in Pakistan?

You know about that too?

There we had monsoons
coming in.

Dye my mustache.

Just a moment.
I'll be right with you.

I want it "a la..."

Oof.

And just how is "a la oof"?

Stop it.

I'll mess up your mustache.
That'll really be "a la oof."

All right.

It'll be done by Saturday.

I just have to light a fire
under those air shaft fitters.

Boss, a man's only got
two hands.

Shut up and work!

We'll get you floodlights
for the night shift.

See you.

You put your foot in it again.

- May I ask a question, boss?
- What?

Feel any tingling here?

- No, why?
- No?

You're gonna sprout a big pair
of wings like an archangel.

A representative from Belgrade
will present the medal.

We'll be handing out the bonus.

Look, we already agreed.
Let's not argue.

Please, let's not argue now.

We cinched the export deal
thanks to him.

Pure hard currency.

We decided
at the party committee

that you'd vote him
a bonus of 300,000 dinars.

Over budget?

When it comes to a man
like Rudinski, there is no budget.

Goddamn it!

You can't eat a medal!

God, you're stubborn!

We decided how
the Communists will vote,

and - thank God - you're all
Communists. Good-bye.

Horsing around again?

All right,
Comrade Health Inspector.

Your frivolity will be
the death of you someday.

And your seriousness
will be the death of you.

Always sacrificing for everyone else.
But who'll think of you?

Find me a dark suit
somewhere, will you?

We're getting bonuses.
There'll be a concert

and a medal.

A medal?

For you, boss?

It's nice that someone's thinking
of the workers for once.

- What's that?
- Worker's hands.

Who told you to put that up?

Take it down.

Little bitch!

Screwing a stranger!
Is he feeding you?

Did he pay you?

Tell her to lay off.

What's all this?

You get bed, water, and electricity.
Our daughter wasn't part of the bargain.

You know how much
that child has cost me?

I'll set the committee on you
so you never forget me.

We treated you like a prince,
and this is your gratitude?

Bastard!

- Hello.
- Hello, Bosko.

What'll it be?

A shave.

You already shaved.

Doesn't matter.

Suit yourself.

- What are you doing?
- Come on, just a little.

As if you didn't get enough.

Stay still.

Something funny
tickle your fanny?

You're being crude.

Cologne and pomade, please.

As you wish.

What time do you close?

It's on the door.

Rascal.

FOREVER YOURS ALONE
I'll bet.

Miskovic, the police
in Pozarevac are asking

why there's so much lead
and brass in the junkyard there.

And the junkyard says they don't care
where the peasants are getting it.

You know who the manager there is?
Gavric, a merchant from before the war.

Look.

Tell Pozarevac

to immediately arrest the buyer,
and we'll visit some of his customers.

- Hurry up.
- I'm coming.

Steva, wait till they're gone.

Steva!

Come on.

Bring it out.

- Lift it up.
- Son of a bitch is heavy!

Easy does it.
Don't monkey around!

Steva, my friend,

we gotta wind 1,300 feet
around you.

Easy does it.

I don't want you
fainting on me.

Come on.

Now cut it.

Now let's scram.

Slow down, Steva.

You guys,
come give us a hand.

We can't.
We're on sick leave.

Miskovic's orders. Hurry up.

A man can't work
when he's sick.

Why are you so stiff?

Bad back.
It's gone stiff on me.

Take this.

Come on.

We're done.

Have a seat.

My gosh...

these chairs are comfortable.

This way. Hurry up.

Come on.

Excuse me!

Excuse me, is the concert
to be held here?

We smelt raw copper
here.
Where are you from?

The philharmonic.

...Beethoven...

Those are
converters.

The Ninth Symphony...

We don't
produce
such things here.

Smelters sit
at the second column on the left.

Agglomeration, sit in the rear.

Ionization, on the aisle.

Bookkeeping

from the second row on.

Strip mining
in front of the locomotive.

Please sit in the sections
you've been assigned.

Apprentices, electrical shop,
and machine shop on the scaffolding.

Bookkeeping
from the second row on.

Make yourself comfortable.

I like fast wind and a good spree

How much do you charge a mile?

For a mile, two dinars and a smile

But for you, honey, it's free

And now, comrades,
the representative from Belgrade

will present
the Order of Labor First Class

to Comrade Jan Rudinski,

leader of the assembly crew

that finished the installation
in reduced time,

enabling us to begin production
in the new plant two months early.

Comrades...

today we present the Republic's
high mark of recognition

for work achievement
to Comrade Jan Rudinski.

Comrade Rudinski is awarded
the Order of Labor

for 20 years
of self-sacrificing efforts

and extraordinary accomplishments
from Jablanica to Karachi,

from Trebinje and Maglenica
to Dar es Salaam,

from Herzegovina and Slovenia
to North Africa,

as well as the Near and Far East.

His latest achievement

is the extraordinarily rapid installation
of the new turboblowers,

which considerably accelerate

the conversion
of copper ore to blister copper

as well as shorten processing time
by several hours,

resulting in great savings
in electrical energy.

I sincerely congratulate Comrade
Rudinski on his accomplishments.

Thank you, comrades.

We did our job.

It's a man's task to build,
to the best of his ability,

his own happiness
and a future for all of us.

Thank you.

Where are you going?
Go back.

It's none of your business.
Let go.

Stand here and be quiet.

There's a small banquet
in your honor too.

You weren't
at the concert last night?

No.

- Were you with someone?
- What?

I asked if you were with someone.

Like who?

How old is he?

Twenty, twenty-two.

Do you love him more than me?

Don't be silly.
It's nothing.

You're hurting me.

What's the matter with you?

What's gotten into you?

Thank you, comrades.

You played Beethoven
magnificently yesterday.

This is the Union Circus,

entertainment
for working people.

Discount for the young.

Here there are no lies,
no tricks.

Bear the excitement.

The rest should find
some other planet.

Here's Snake Girl,

who can coil up
like a snake under a rock.

For us it's a marvel.
For them, it's breakfast!

Go on, grind it!

Here there are no illusions.
All is truth, pure and simple.

With this number

we bring our show to a close.

With the compliments
of the Union Circus Collective,

thank you for coming,
and good-bye!

I ask you to listen
to my brief explanation

so you won't go around saying
that Roko uses accomplices,

or evil spirits,
or potions and such.

Hypnosis was already known to the
ancient Romans, Egyptians, and Greeks.

The word itself comes from
the Greek hypnos, meaning sleep.

But hypnosis is not ordinary sleep
but an induced, artificial sleep.

For a man asleep can do nothing,
but under hypnosis

he can carry out the most complex
commands, including murder.

OUR THANKS TO THE COLLECTIVE
OF THE BOR MINING BASIN

FOR THEIR
UNSELFISH COOPERATION

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